Boadicea
3 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Boadicea. All 3 are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
bo-ad-i-se'a, a British queen in the time of the emperor Nero. The Romans at this time occupied a large part of Britain. At his death, 60 A. D., her husband left Nero his wealth and his two daughters, hoping in that way to secure fair treatment for them. The Romans, however, scourged the widowed queen and wronged her daughters. Stung to frenzy by her injuries, Boadicea summoned the warriors of her people and levied war upon the Romans. Camp after camp was taken and the Romans put to the sword. London, then a Roman colony, was reduced to ashes, and Roman citizens, traders, Italians, and other intruders to the number of 70,000 were put to death. The timely return of the Roman governor with a legion of 10,000 seasoned soldiers was all that saved the Romans from utter extermination. In the pitched battle that followed, the Romans remained on the defensive sheltered by their bucklers in a dense grove until the weapons and darts of the Britons began to fail. A general onslaught was then sounded. Men, women, children, beasts of burden, and even dogs were cut to pieces mercilessly by the Roman soldiers. The vanquished queen committed suicide rather than be taken by her conquerors. Boadicea is without doubt a historical character. Our account is derived chiefly from Roman sources. No doubt the numbers given are exaggerated, but it is claimed that Boadicea had 120,000 men under her banner. Seen from the Roman point of view the war with Boadicea was a native outbreak like that conducted by King Philip, Tecumseh, Sitting Bull , Black Hawk, Little Crow, or Joseph. It was the struggle of a native race to regain territory taken by encroaching foreigners. See Druids
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
Queen of the Iceni, in Britain, during the reign of Nero. Having been treated in the most ignominious manner by the Romans, she headed a general insurrection of the Britons, attacked the Roman settlements, reduced London to ashes, and put to the sword all strangers to the number of 70,000. Suetonius, the Roman general, defeated her in a decisive battle (A. D. 62), and Boadicea, rather than fall into the hands of her enemies, put an end to her own life by poison.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A famous British queen who rebelled against the Romans and was defeated, upon which she poisoned herself. Her cruel treatment by the Romans is the subject of an ode by Cowper.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The story told here is still the story, because it still rests on the only two ancient witnesses, Tacitus and Dio Cassius; what has moved is around the edges. The queen Aiton's called "Boadicea" in 1910 is now usually spelled Boudica, closer to the British word for victory, and her revolt is dated to about AD 60-61 rather than Collier's flat "A. D. 62". Excavation has vindicated the ancient accounts of burning: layers of scorched debris from the sack survive beneath modern Colchester, London and St Albans — the first of these, Roman Camulodunum, goes unmentioned in all three entries even though it was destroyed before London. The site of the final battle has never been found, and modern historians treat the 70,000 dead and 120,000 warriors as Roman rhetoric rather than a count.
Written for this edition, 2026.